To get the job done, you need the right tools.
Jay Abraham says that “You need an innovative product or service and a great marketing system, everything else is just details.” So you have an innovative product or service. You have read books and articles on marketing; maybe you even have a marketing coach. Does this mean that your sales have gone up or that you have doubled your sales? No. You need to take action; you need to implement the marketing plan and to do that properly you will need software tools to get the job done. If you think you already have the software tools that you need because you use Outlook, some accounting package, or you have a few Excel spreadsheets, is your business growing as planned? If yes, read no further, if no, you need the right tools for the job.If you want to double your sales, you need to be concerned with the Sales Life-Cycle. There are 5 very important stages in the Sales Life-Cycle, with each one being just as important to the success of your business. If you are not good at or on top of even one stage, it can be the difference between being profitable or going out of business.
Pre-Sale - Driving traffic to your door. Advertising and marketing, educating prospects on what you have and why they should purchase from you. This stage is where you are filling your sales funnel.
| Tool |
Function/Reason |
| Website |
Educate prospect, collect names to fill the funnel, allow prospect to let you know that they are interested. |
| Prospect Database |
A place to store and track “Future Customers”. You would get names from website sign ups, trade shows, in-store promotion, networking events, cold calling, past customers, purchased lists etc. |
| Opportunities |
These are the prospects that have put up their hand and said “I am interested”. They may buy today, they may buy next month or next year so you need to keep them in the loop so that when they are ready to buy, not when you are ready to sell, they will buy from you. |
| Tasks |
Organize the calls, meeting, emails, and direct mail to turn cold leads into warm leads. Lead follow up |
| Sales |
Sales automation, auto responders, marketing campaigns. Sales forecasts |
Sale - Determine what the customer needs or is looking for. Discuss with your customer what you have to offer. Close the sale. This stage is where you are converting your sales funnel leads into a sale.
| Tool |
Function/Reason |
| Sales |
Price list, inventory, proposal, quote, order, and finally an invoice. Billing and shipping address |
| Website |
On-line ordering, order follow up |
| Tasks |
Organize the calls, meeting, emails, and direct mail to turn warm leads into hot leads and ultimately into a sale. |
Process Sale - Once the customer and you have an agreement, you have to come up with your end of the bargain. You will be manufacturing the part, doing the service, or getting the product for the customer.
| Tool |
Function/Reason |
| Tasks |
Organizing the work process of filling the order for the customer. Work orders, job tickets |
| Website |
Order status |
| Customer Service |
Order status |
Delivery - Giving the customer what they purchased. This needs to be in the condition and time frame that was agreed upon. Also at this time you need to receive payment for the order.
| Tool |
Function/Reason |
| Customer Service |
Order status |
| Sales |
Invoice and payment collection |
| Shipping |
Organize the delivery of the order whether in person or across the globe |
| Website |
Order Status |
After-Sale - Following up that there are no problems with the sale. Cross selling customer on complimentary product or service.
| Tool |
Function/Reason |
| Customer Service |
Customer issues and complaints. Warranty and returns |
| Tasks |
Customer satisfaction follow up. Put customer back in sales funnel. Follow up to sell more product/service or a complimentary product/service |
| Website |
Returns, re-order |
| Evaluation |
Every aspect of the sales life-cycle should be measured. Review how the whole process is going and tweak accordingly. What gets measured gets done. |
Bottom LineMake sure that you excel at each stage of the life-cycle. Make sure that your software system seamlessly follows the transaction as it goes through each stage. Make sure that nowhere in the sales life-cycle is the sale lost in cracks. Make sure that you have a customer for life. Measure and tweak!
Keith Narsansky, CMA is the Software Architect and Business Process Engineer at The Business Solution. www.thebusinesssolution.com
Location: SinglePost
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